John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection. That is what is in the plan that the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee came up with. It will add a tax of almost seven cents a litre come 1 July 2014, and our truckies will have to pay that. I am sure you are familiar with it, Senator Polley. There is only one way we can prevent that tax being put on our truckies: have a change of government at the next election, because the coalition will not inflict that extra cost on our transport industry. All that would do is add to the cost of getting our exports from regional areas to the ports. Where I live, we do not have a train line. Everything comes into the town by road. Everything goes out by road.

The next point that I wish to talk about concerns our abattoirs. We are so grateful to have an abattoir in the town of Inverell that employs more than 600 people. It is worth a huge amount of money, not only through wages being spent in local businesses but also through the transport that brings the cattle to the abattoir and the refrigerated trucks that take the meat to the waterfront and to domestic consumers as well. Further, the fact that we have Bindaree Beef bidding in the stockyards each week puts a floor on the cattle price, which then feeds into the regional communities. That puts money into regions to keep their local economies viable. And we are going to impose a $1.74 million cost on this abattoir in the first year. That was the evidence that our Senate Select Committee on the Scrutiny of New Taxes heard at Tamworth: a $1.74 million cost. And yet their competitors in America will not have that cost.

They are striving to compete against America. The home of subsidies for farmers is either in Europe or America, and our industries have to compete against them. Those abattoirs in America, which are pursuing our markets in South Korea, Japan and many other countries, do not have those costs. If you remove the competitive edge of our trade-exposed industries you remove the jobs in those industries. That is what of great concern about this whole tax proposal.

It is through this place now. For that we can thank the betrayal of the Australian people by those opposite and those who were complicit in that betrayal—namely the member for New England, Mr Tony Windsor, and the member for Lyne, Mr Rob Oakeshott. They were complicit in the break of the promises made by and the breach of the words given by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer Swan. Those two Independents played a major role in this. When it comes to seats in parliament, those seats do not belong to the politicians but belong to the people and the people will have their say come next election.

I want to talk now about the issue of certainty. The reason for the carbon tax was to bring certainty so that business could invest. And I welcome Senator Conroy to the chamber. We know that the carbon tax come 1 July next year will be $23. I was hoping Senator Conroy would stay for this speech, because I know what a great fan he is of this carbon tax. We have not seen him speak on it; we have not even seen him vote on it. He is like Senator Collins and Senator Feeney: they were absent with leave, because they did not want to be part of this whole debate yesterday.

Getting back to the idea of certainty, what will be the price of carbon in 2016 or 2017? Will it be $8 a tonne? Will the scheme have been shut down around the world, seeing that other nations are not taking up emissions trading schemes? Will it be $80 a tonne? We do not know what the price of carbon trading around the world will be in five years time. And that is supposed to deliver certainty? That is what is so uncertain about the whole policy: no-one knows what the price will be. It is a bit like asking what the Australian dollar will be trading at in five years time. You can have a guess. It will probably be somewhere between 40c and $1.40—a big range—but we do not know for sure. No-one knows for sure: it depends on the sentiment of the market, the buyers and sellers. What will be the price of carbon? We do not know. This is the certainty that was supposed to be delivered to Australian businesses and investors: we will not know what the price of carbon will be. That is why this whole scheme is so crazy.

The bill that we are debating is about the steel industry and compensation for only two companies. Where is the compensation for the states? Where is the compensation for the state of New South Wales? As people would be well aware, in New South Wales the coal fired generators are owned by the state. I still say that it was against the Constitution to introduce this tax, when section 114 clearly states:

... nor shall the Commonwealth impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.

To me, that is black and white in the Constitution, but they will weasel their way around that, I imagine. I do hope the states take a challenge to the High Court on that very issue.

But when you consider companies like Macquarie Generation, owned by the New South Wales government, which produces 40 per cent of New South Wales' electricity, they are going to be up for about $550 million in carbon tax a year—their profit is gone! Their profit is currently $125 million, which goes to the state of New South Wales to help run our Police Force, our hospitals, our schools; and to build our roads and those other services that people depend on. But that money is going. So where is the compensation for New South Wales? Is it any wonder Mr O'Farrell, the Premier of New South Wales, announced an increase in royalties in the mining industry to make up for the money the state is going to lose? New South Wales this year has a budget deficit of $1 billion in their forecast, and then into the black at last. I know how tight it is for state governments—and for local governments—to run their budgets, to have enough money to deliver their services, to maintain their roads and everything else we insist on. But where is the compensation?

We have compensation for the steel industry, for two companies. What about the cement industry? What about the abattoirs? They would receive some $150 million over six years, but most abattoirs will not qualify for that anyway.

And where is the compensation for local government? If their landfills exceed the emissions of 25,000 tonnes, look at the cost to local government. Already, Tamworth Regional Council have announced an extra $300,000 for electricity. But in New South Wales we have rate-pegging, so they cannot increase the rates. They can increase the rates on their water and sewerage, and perhaps make a bit of a windfall there to compensate them, but it just means that people pay again. It is back to the people; it always comes back to the people to pay. The cost of living will go up—more than what the predictions say, I can assure you.

That is why this whole package has just been one big mess. You think you are going to reduce carbon dioxide. What are we on—386 parts per million? I would like to know what this carbon tax will do to the atmosphere. How many parts per million of CO2 will we have in the atmosphere in 10 years' time? We will have a lot more than 386 million. Just take China: they will produce 10.3 billion tonnes of CO2 this year. Under Australian Treasury's forecast—not opposition figures plucked out of the sky—China will produce 17.9 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2020. They will go up by 7,600 million tonnes a year. We are going to go up by 43 million tonnes. I wonder what the actual parts per million of CO2 will be by 2020? We are on roughly 386 million now. It is not going to be less than 386 million.

And the Greens are claiming now that it is carbon dioxide that has caused the cyclones and the floods. Well, there are going to be more later on—cyclones and floods have been around for thousands of years, just like climate change has. The climate has been changing for thousands and thousands of years—and will continue to change, regardless of what we do. But now, of course, here is a money-grab by the federal government with this carbon tax, handing out the gifts to try to keep industry alive. We have lost 105,000 jobs in manufacturing in the last three years. We will lose more.

But now, of course, some of the money might even be to pay for the advertising campaign coming up, which is going to convince everyone that the government has done the right thing, being led by the Greens and the Independents—that what the government has done is correct. It is crazy. If the government were to come up with a decent environmental policy I am sure it would be supported all around this chamber.

The biggest asset we have, and the greatest asset to nurture in this country, is our land, our soil, that grows our food—not only feeding millions of Australians but millions of people around the world. That is the greatest resource we need to look after. That is why our direct action policy is solely directed at incentives to the farmers, working with the farmers; not like the Kimberley Maxwell Yeadon stage of the early days of the Carr government. One of his staffers, by the way, was none other than Senator Penny Wong! That is where she learnt her hatred for those on the land: from the infamous Kimberley Maxwell Yeadon. Remember John Laws? He would be up him every day—Kimberley Maxwell Yeadon, the jumped-up shop steward. That is where this comes from: the Left of the Labor Party and the hatred for the man on the land and the families who work it. So now you understand why Senator Wong thinks like she does and where it comes from. This is a bad policy. If we win the next election, it is going.